When I was a kid, I had a lot of curiosity—and not quite enough wisdom to go with it. One summer evening around the Fourth of July, I was at a friend’s house when I spotted a leftover bottle rocket and got an idea that seemed brilliant at the time: what if I tied a rope to it and anchored it to the ground?
In my mind, it would zip upward, reach the end of the rope, and either hover or swing back down in some controlled, cinematic way. So I found a stake in the yard, tied one end of the rope to the rocket stick, and the other securely into the ground. Everyone else was watching the real fireworks. I lit the fuse and stepped back to admire my experiment.
That’s when the chaos began.
The bottle rocket ignited, but instead of soaring into the sky, it yanked hard against the rope and started spiraling in wild, tight circles around the stake like an angry wasp. I was instantly dodging and ducking as it buzzed past my legs, my arms, and my head. I couldn’t outrun it. I got pelted multiple times before it finally exploded in a crooked mess just a few feet off the ground.
Everyone laughed. I limped away. And I learned a lesson that’s stuck with me longer than the bruises did.
Some things just aren’t meant to be controlled.
I’ve found the same to be true in my walk with God. I often want His power and presence but on my terms. I want movement, but only within the safety of my boundaries. I want growth, but I also want control. And it never works.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 says, “Just as you don’t know the path of the wind or how bones develop in the womb, so also you don’t know the work of God who makes everything.”
Trying to tether what God intends to launch is a fast track to frustration—or getting spiritually singed.
So maybe the reminder today is simple: don’t stake down what God wants to set loose. Trust Him. Step back. And let the Spirit move freely.
Even if you have to learn the hard way like I did at that bottle rocket stake.
